1:52 pm: Expressing happiness over the win of the BJP in Gujarat, former state home minister Amit Shah that "the positive vote bank due to good work of the state government has given the BJP a good victory". further used the opportunity to allege that false cases were registered against him, and also, the CBI was misused.

1.48 pm: The BJP seems set to get two-third majority in the Gujarat assembly as the party leads in 122 seats while the Congress leads in 54. The GPP and others lead in 2 and 4 seats respectively.

1.47 pm: Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Tarun Vijay has said that Narendra Modi is the tallest leader of the party after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He further said that Modi was the best suitable candidate for Prime Ministership.

Reacting to the win of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat, Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar has batted for Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister candidate. Pointing that people had chosen Modi for the third time, Shettar said, "Definitely it is the mandate given by the people of Gujarat...people have given mandate for the third time for Narendra Modi. India will see Narendra Modi as the next prime minister of India."

The BJP appears to have bettered its 2007 tally in the state as it leads in 120 seats while the Congress is leading in 56. The GPP and others lead in 2 and 4 seats respectively.

Congratulating Narendra Modi on his win, Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari thanked the people of Gujarat and expressed hope that the state would continue with the pace of development under the leadership of the Chief Minister. "I thank the people of Gujarat for supporting BJP. I congratulate Narendra Modi and the BJP leaders and party workers in Gujarat," said Gadkari.

Pointing that the people of Gujarat had voted for development, the BJP president said, "The people of Gujarat have voted for development. The Congress tried its best to spread communalism in the state, but people of Gujarat have defeated them."

The BJP rallies around its 2007 tally, leading in 116 seats while the Congress leads in 60 constituencies. The GPP and others lead in 2 and 4 seats respectively.

According to the latest trend, the BJP is leading in 118 seats, which is better than its tally in 2007 when it had won in 117 seats. The Congress is leading in 60 seats while the GPP and others lead in 2 seats each.

IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt's wife Shweta Bhatt, who lost from Maninagar against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, said she would continue to fight against the people of her constituency. Talking about her defeat, Bhatt said, "It doesn't shock me, it hurts me that people of Gujarat cannot see the hidden truth."

The BJP has improved its tally marginally, leading in 117 seats while the Congress leads in 61. The GPP and others lead in 2 seats each.

Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram said that though Narendra Modi and the BJP had won win in Gujarat, the final numbers showed that they could not better their tally as claimed. He pointed that the Congress had, in fact, improved its tally in the state. Hitting out at Modi, the senior Congress leader said that the bureaucracy in Gujarat was under the state government.

The BJP is leading in 115 seats and the Congress in 62. Others are leading in 3 and the GPP in 2 seats.

As the final trends continue to pour in, the BJP is leading in 113 seats and the Congress in 63. Keshubhai Patel's GPP leads in 2 seats while others in 4.

Reacting to the win of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat, the Congress has said that though Narendra Modi has won, it is not "open skies" for him.

Veteran Congress leader and Union Minister for External Affairs Salman Khurshid said, "The trends prove that it's not open skies for Narendra Modi."

When asked why the Congress was unable to defeat Modi in Gujarat, the minister asked a counter question: "Why is Modi not able to defeat us in the country."

The Congress appears to improve its tally marginally, leading in 65 seats while the BJP leads in 111 seats. The GPP leads in 2 seats and others in 4.

According to the latest trend/results, the BJP is ahead in 112 seats while the Congress in 64. The GPP is leading in 2 seats and others in 4.

The JD(U) congratulated Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on his victory, but said that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was a better Prime Ministerial candidate.

The BJP leads in 116 seats and the Congress in 61. The GPP is leading in 2 seats and others in 3.

According to the latest trends on all 182 seats, the BJP is leading in 114 and the Congress in 64. The GPP and others lead in 2 seats each.

The BJP is leading in 115 seats and the Congress in 64. Keshubhai Patel's GPP stands routed with leads in just 2 seats while others lead in 1.

The GPP is routed with leads in just 2 seats while Narendra Modi is set for a third term as Chief Minister with the BJP leading in 114 seats. The Congress leads in 64 seats and others in 1.

According to the latest trend, the BJP is leading in 117 seats, the same numbers that it won in 2007. The Congress is leading in 62, the GPP is 2 and others in 1.

The BJP is leading in 116 seats and the Congress in 62. The GPP leads in 3 seats while others in 1.

According to the trends in all the 182 seats, the BJP is leading in 111 while the Congress in 67. The GPP leads in 3 seats and others in 1.

Gujarat Congress spokesperson Chetan Raval said that the party accepted the mandate by the people of the state, but stopped short of conceding defeat till the full results were in.

According to the trends in 180 seats, the BJP is leading in 109 seats while the Congress in 66. The GPP leads in 4 and others in 1.

The Congress betters its tally, leading in 68 seats while the BJP leads in 107 constituencies. The GPP leads in 4 seats and others in 1.

The BJP is leading in 108 seats, the Congress in 64, the GPP in 4 and others in 1.

The BJP takes lead in 111 seats while the Congress is leading in 58 seats. The GPP leading in 3 seats and others in 2.

The BJP improves its tally further with lead in 106 constituencies. The Congress leads in 61 seats, the GPP in 4 others in 1.

The BJP continues to surge ahead as it leads in 104 seats while the Congress leads in 57 seats. The GPP takes lead in 4 seats and others in 2.

The BJP leads in 101 seats while the Congress in 59. The GPP takes lead in 4 seats and others in 2.

The Congress improves its tally with lead in 60 seats while the BJP leads in 98 seats. The GPP and others lead in 3 seats each.

The BJP is leading in 98 seats while the Congress in 56. The GPP leads in 3 constituencies and others in 2.

The BJP leads in 95 seats and the Congress in 56. The GPP and others lead in 3 seats each.

The BJP has crossed the half-way mark, leading in 94 seats. The Congress trails with lead in 50 seats. The GPP and others lead in 3 seats each.

The BJP leads in 91 seats and the Congress in 50. The GPP and others lead in 3 each.

The BJP is just marginally short of the half-way mark, leading in 86 seats while the Congress leads in 51. The GPP and others lead in 3 seats each.

The BJP betters its tally, leading in 85 seats even as the Congress leads in 49 seats. The GPP and others lead in 3 seats each.

The BJP leads in 82 seats while the Congress is leading in 46. Others lead in 3 seats and the GPP in 2.

The BJP leads in 74 seats and the Congress in 46 constituencies. The GPP and others lead in 3 seats each.

The BJP is leading in 79 seats while the Congress in 39. The GPP and others continue to led in 3 and 2 respectively.

The BJP leads in 77 seats while the Congress in 40. The GPP leads in 3 seats and others in 2.

The BJP is leading in 75 seats and the Congress in 40. the GPP is leading in 3 and others in 1.

The BJP leads in 70 seats while the Congress in 38. The GPP leads in 2 seats and others in 1.

The BJP heads towards the half-way mark, leading in 66 seats while the Congress is leading in 36 seats. The GPP is leading in 2 and others in 1.

The BJP leads in 61 seats and the Congress in 33. The GPP is leading in 3 and others in 2.

The BJP is leading in 60 seats and the Congress follows with lead in 29 seats. The GPP leads in 3 and others in 2.

The BJP leads in 57 seats and the Congress in 25. The GPP leads in 3 seats and others in 1.

The BJP takes lead in 56 seats and the Congress in 24. The GPP leads in 3 seats and others in 1. Narendra Modi and Keshubhai Patel lead.

The BJP leads in 50 seats and the Congress in 24. The GPP leads in 3 seats.

The BJP betters its tally as it leads in 49 seats. The Congress leads in 24 seats and the GPP in 3.

The BJP surges ahead, leading in 46 seats. The Congress leads in 23 seats, the GPP in 3.

The BJP leads in 41 seats and the Congress in 21. The GPP leads in 3 seats and others in 1.

The BJP leads in 38 seats and the Congress in 21. The GPP leads in 2 seats.

The BJP betters its tally, leading in 34 seats. The Congress leads in 18 seats and the GPP in 2.

The BJP is leading in 26 seats, Congress in 10 and the GPP leads in 1.

The BJP surges ahead, leading in 21 seats, with the Congress leading in 9 seats and the others in one.

The BJP leads in 18 seats while the Congress takes lead in seven constituencies.

Leads come in from 22 seats from Gujarat with the BJP leading in 15 and the Congress in 7.

The BJP takes an edge, leading in 11 seats while the Congress continues to lead in 6 seats.

The BJP is leading in 9 seats and the Congress leads in 7 constituencies. The GPP is yet to open its tally.

The BJP leads in 7 seats with the Congress taking lead in six constituencies.

As per the early trends, the BJP and the Congress lead in six seats each.

The BJP takes a lead in six seats while the Congress continues to lead in five seats.

Both the BJP and the Congress are leading in 5 seats each.

The BJP leads in five seats with the Congress leading in two seats.

The Congress is leading in two seats while the BJP continues to lead in two constituencies.

The BJP leads in three seats while the Congress and others are yet to open their tally.

The BJP takes lead in two seats.

8.30 am: The Bharatiya Janata Party leads in one seat as the trends begin to pour in.

The counting for the Gujarat elections began on Thursday with the exit polls predicting a comfortable win for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a hat-trick for Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Almost all major poll surveys have predicted a landslide victory for Modi. Speculations are already rife that the BJP leader may well be projected as BJP's prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 General Election if Modi manages to win by a landslide margin this time. If Modi wins this will be the fifth straight victory of the BJP in Gujarat.

According to the post-poll survey conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) and seat projections by Chennai Mathematical Institute Director Rajeeva Karandikar, Modi will steamroll the opposition and become the Chief Minister of Gujarat once again.

The post-poll survey of 3755 persons at 239 locations in 60 constituencies in Gujarat shows that Modi is going to better the 2002 and 2007 results and win by a very handsome margin. While the BJP will have a vote percentage of 48, the party is going to win 129-141 seats (the party had won 117 in 2007 in the 182-member Assembly) with the Congress trailing far behind with 36 per cent of the votes and its worst show in the state with only 37 to 45 seats (the party had won 59 in 2007). The other smaller parties would garner 16 per cent of the votes and end up with 4 to 10 seats (others had won six seats which included three by the NCP, one by the JD(U) and two Independents in 2007).

In Gujarat, where 71.32 per cent voters cast their ballot, the counting will be held for all the 182 Assembly constituencies in the state, culminating the much-watched poll exercise which started on October four with the Election Commission announcing the poll schedule.

Polling was held in two phases on December 13 and 17, and the counting will begin at 8 am at 33 places in the state where 44,579 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have been kept in strong rooms under heavy security.

The Gujarat Assembly election was virtually a three-way fight with rebel BJP leader Keshubhai Patel, a former Chief Minister, launching his political outfit Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) months ahead of the polls and main Opposition Congress running a sustained and aggressive campaign against Modi. Congress had lost power in the key western state in 1990. Apart from the three main contenders, 33 other parties are also trying their luck at the hustings.